Air-navigating machine.



B. MOLNAR. y AIR NAVIGATING MACHINE. Y APPLIUTION'FIILED DBO; 27, 1910.

y 1,031,580?. mma .my 9,1912.

' lE. MOLNAR.. AIR NAVIGATING MACHINE.

APPLITION FILED 10110.27, 1910.

Pateneaquly 9, 1912 A 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2',

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B. MOLNAR; 'AIR NAYIGATING MACHINE. APPLIATION FILED DEO. 27, 1910.

1,031,807. Patented my 9,1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

En MOLNAR.

AIB NAVIGATING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEU; 27, 1910.

LGSLSG?. v Patented July 9, 1912.

A SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ERNEST MOLNAR, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

einen AIR-NAVIGATING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1912.

Application filed December 27, 1910. Serial No. 599,338.

My inventionrelates to air navigating machines and the inventionconsists in a machine having a pair of wings with portions correspondingto feathers in the wings of birds and adapted to open and close rotarilyaccording as the wing` is on the down or up stroke, and both wingsoperate exaetly alike and' in unison, so that a description of one wingand its associated mechanism will serve for both.-l

ln the accompanying drawings, Figui-e1 is a perspective view ofthemachine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the wings and its bodyconnections -with the wing open, as Whenit is on its up stroke and thefeathers or vanes arev rotated to edgewise position vertically. Fig. 3is a plan view of the parts seen in Fig. 2 but considerably, enlargedover the same and with the feathers or vanes of the wing closed, as Iinitsdown stroke. Fig. l is a sectional View on line 4 4, Fig. 5, looking`to the left but showing the wing tilted up. Fig. 5 is a front elevationof a part of the machine showing the -vanes spread at vdifferent anglesto a horizontal plane. Fig. 6 is a front elevationof one side of themachine with the wing at the left in horizontal position-therefrom andpresumably on the up stroke as the vanes are open in full lines and areshown-A raised in dotted lines and about to be closed for-descent of thewing. Fig. 7 shows the parts in full lines substantially'where theyFigs. 8 and 9 are details of the vane stems or Shanks.

As thus shown the respective wings *as* such, one on each side, arerepresented by W, and each wing-has a series of feathers or feathershaped vanes V. These vanes are substantially feather shaped like thefeathers on a fowl a-nd constitute Wingsof approximately butterfly shapein plan. Each vane has a stem or shank 2 of the requisite strength andslightly flexible in its outer portion, and any suitable webbing orribhing can be used with said stems to extend more or less laterallytherefrqln'andaford an outline 'skeleton toearry th domina and jthereof.

or other thin covering 3. As to this covering it may be of any suitablelight material whether metallic or other kind;

Each vane isrotatably mounted in a wing trame F of sector shape in theportion carrying said vanes and in which the said stem's are radiallydisposed with axial rotation, or more definitely in the segmentalportions Otherwise frame F 'has parallel sides and is pivotally mountedon the ends of the shaft S'2 and adapted to l swing thereonsubstantially half a full circle. rlhatis, when the wings are raised ashigh as they will go they are vin approximately perpendicular position,and when they are loweredl or down they assume asubstantially oppositeposition, thus describing about a half circle from one position to theother. The said vanes are tach axially rotatable in frame F about aquarter turn,

or from open to closed position, being open'- when they. rise so asto'cut the .air and get back to closed carrying position as easilyand'quickly as possible for the down stroke when they are automaticallyclosed andv remain closedv during the down stroke,

as will presently be seen.

The machine has "a rigid `main frame'B which of courseis as light asconsistent with the strength necessary for carrying the engine and theoperating mechanism and such load as it may. be built to carry, say oneor more persons. Otherwise than for these particulars the said frame mayhave any suitable size and form, it being seen, however, that apassenger cage or carriage E is provided within this frame while thereare runners g at the bottom thereof, and said runners may have wheels ifpreferred. A suitably constructed and arranged tail T is supportedbetween said wings rearward.

Now, having the' wings W operatively mounted in a natural positie-n andrelation in respect to the body frame B, the actua,- tion of said wingsproceeds from shaft SP as will presently be seen. The said shaft S2 isfixed and carries the two loosely mounted gears 6 and 7 which areprovidel with the arms 8 and S', respectively, sai 'arms being adaptedalternately to engage with a.

shaft 'S' and geared and arranged to make power connections with theengine shaft S, anda .latter gearwis fixed on. each end of portion ofthewing franjie, wherebyh the same 1s successively raised and lowered. Asprocket wheehG is mounted on a countersaid shaft S. The two other mitergears, 6 and 7, are loosely mounted onshaft S2 as just described andboth mesh in gear from opposite sides, one to raise the wings and- Itheother to lower them, to make carrying 4`or beating strokes. Thegear 6has to do with the raising of the wings, which is'an idle movement sofar as buoyancy or carrying is concerned, but the change is so It)/quickly made and the active stroke of the .wings is so effective thatthe result of the complete action as it is repeated is like thecorresponding action of the wings of a bird. Thel net effect of theoperation is substantially equivalent to what a continuous down strokewould be. This works out through said gears 5, Ki. and 7 as follows:Thus, assuming that the wings are downoutof action they are raised bymeans of the lift finger 8 rigid with said gear 6 and adaptf ed to reachbeneath a slide 9 on the frame F in position to be engaged on its-bottomside by said fingerand whereby the said wing is carried upward underpower to a vert-ical position. As the wing approaches this latterposition a pair of outwardly and downwardly curved horns 10 come beneaththe edge of said slide and press it back far enough to release liftfinger 8 therefrom,

Fig. 7. As this occurs the wing is instantly .be engaged again by theliftlnger 8 and raised, and so on successively. Thus the wings are underconstant power one way or the other and alternately as to the` up anddown strokes. Both the gears 6 and 7 and arms 8 and 8' respectively atthe sides thereof revolve continuously in appropriate direction underpower delivery through gear v5, as above described, and horn 10 belowieleases slide 9 as horn 10 releases slide 9. All the foregoing partsare alike as to both wings. The said slides 9 and9 have springs 92 topress them .back to normal position wheii'rclcased from the horns 10 andl0', and the fingers 8 and S have spring pressed portions a, Fig. 7,which project beyond the finger proper and really make the engagementwith said slides Sl and 9.

This is in order to cushion the contact'. with said slides.

Now, the wings rise to what may he termed stroke position they aredesigned to open by a quarter rotation ol' their valles 8, and to effectthis result at the right lime au well as to restore the vanes again ,toahori- Zontal positionf I employ twoarms, 12 and 12, respect-ivef, butbuilt in one piece as shown and-extending outward' in curved lines intoposition to trip said vane control-f ling mechanism in veach up and downmovement successively. Thus, each wing is provided with avanecontrolling segment 14,- Fig. 3, having short radial projections niet`open vslotted lugs' its outer edge `'engaging in or project-ionsl m,Fig. 8, on the Shanks of the vane stems 2. The, said stems extendbetween the two segments f and f on the wing frame F. One of the outervanes hasA extending through the a shank or stem 2 front segment f intosegment f and a short lever 0,`F 3,1is fixed rigidly on the outer end ofsai shank 2 and adapted to be en gaged by said arms 12 and 12alternately in the extremes of movements of the wing up and down.'Hencewhuen the wing is down and being raised by finger 8 the arm -12with its hook end will engage lever Q' and rotate the said Vane s'liank`or shaft 2 andv this will communicate a quarter turn to all the othervanes to an -open `p'o.s'ition,fsiich change occurring through aswinging movement of segment 14 on its pivot arm '15. In fact thel,raising ofthe wings alone will have the tendency to open said lvanesor feathers 3, and said vanes also4 tend naturally `to assume the closedor horizontal position on the down stroke, but to make su'r'e of thisthe arm 12 is adapted to engage the projection o', which positivelycloses the vanes as.. i

the wing'starts to descend, Opening and cilosin of the wingsfthusloccurs yautomatically and` positively as a necessary ei'ect in vtheoperations, and the hooks at the ends of said ariiis 12 and' 12 alikeengage arm o in both positions." The closingaction for the vanes isshown in dotted llines in the upper portion of Fig. 6. y l l Now, havingthe machine provided withv power driven Awings ,andv operating parts asdescribed, it is of course .desirable to have complete control of thevwings for movements in the air, so that they can'be ma-` nipulated for.steering and flight, and by vwhich theelevation and directions of travelcan be changed. For example, to fly in a circle a certain position orpositions of the wings is required which differs from the requirementsof a direct flight, and to rise or descend requires still other anddifferent positions and manipulationsv of the wings. To these ends thewing controlling mechanism on each side is supported ona separatesubstantially rectangular" open work -frame' D carried in part on shaftS by means of a yoke 20 sleeved on shaft S at its middle, Figs. 4'and 6,and having arms rigid with the ends ,ol said frame D inside, so thatsaid l'rnme is rotatable on said shaft as a center oll rotation andsupport and in its segmentaliy shaped side bearings 30, Fig. 4.' Levers"L extend downward'from the said frames D into controlling position bythel operator from his seat and through these he can give any desireddeflection, tiltor other move ment to either wing separately that adesireddirection or change of flight may require. All the mechanismhaving to do with the operation of the wings is mounted in or upon thesaid frames D.` Suitable means confine said frames D rotatably inrespect to or on main frame B, and said frames have each a slot 22 inone end and a set screw through same in frame B to set or tix frame D inany desired position if this he preferred. Otherwise the said slotatl'ords a limited free movement of frame D and the screw helps toconfine the frame on frame B as described. Ax tiltedl position of frameD isshown in Fig. 4. The taill'l` of course serves the usual functionfor steer ing and buoyancy and coperates with the wings in flight.

l claim:

1. ln aerial machines, a machine having wings at its sides provided withindividually rotatable vanes and means to operate said wings comprisinga supporting shaft for each wmg and arms operatively mounted on eachshaft adapted to act successivelyv and give strokes to said wings incombination with means to axially rotate the said vanes ,to openposition in their upward stroke and to close the same on their downwardstroke.

2. An a-erial machine with wings at its sides provided each withradially disposed v-.ines having axially rotatable ribs, in combinationwith means to rotate said vanes to open position on the up stroke and toclosed position on the down stroke comprising a pivotally mountedsegment 14 4for each wing operatively engaged with said ribs, and meansto oscillate said segment.

5l. machine to navigate the-air having a pair of pivotally mounted wingsand a separate shaft on which each wing is mounted, two gears on each ofsaid shafts for each wing and one of ,said gears having an arm to raisethe wing and the other an arm to depress the wing and produce a stroke.

xt. A; machine as described having a pair olf wings consisting each ofseparate rotatahle varies and frames in which said vanes are mounted.' ashaft on which said frame is pivoted, and power driven arms on saidshat't adapted to engage said wings succes- ,sively and produce a flyingn'ioven'lent.

5. .t flying machine having a main frame, a pair of wings and framescarrying the said wings pivotally mounted at the sides on said unaintrame, in combination with power `driven mechanism to -vihrate saidwings lcomprising a supporting shaft for cach wing,'and means on .sa/'idshafts to produce each side and means \to actuate the same comprisingfafixed shaft for each Wing and means on said shaft` to raise and lowersaid wings comprising a plurality of gears and means therewith tovibrate the wings, and.

.means adapted to reverse the movements of 35 the wings located at theends of their strokes and further adapted to throw one and thenl theother-of said gears into action.

8. A machine adapted to Hy having Wings provided each with a rigid frameat its base and rotatable vanes mounted'in said frames,

4power actuated means to raise and lower said wings comprising a shaftWhereon each wing frame is pivoted, gears on each shaft and arms thereonto raise and lower .the wings, and means at theend of each stroke of awing to reverse its movement.

-9. An aerial machine having Wings constructed each with a series ofradially disposed feather-like vanes, a Wing frame in 10Q which saidvanes are individually rotatavble, and means to rotate said .vanes toopen and closed positions successively comprising a sector shaped parthaving projections operatively engaged with said vanes and 105 pivotallymounted on said wing frame,A and means to actuate said sectorinopposite'direet ions alternately.

it). An aerial machine having wingsv conf sisting each of radiallyvdisposed feather 110 vanesrotatahly mounted each upon its`own y i axis,an arm adapted to carry each Wing' upward on its idle stroke and meansto'rba tate said vanos axially to open position as said' arm begins toraise said wing, said' 115 means comprising a laterally swinging yokeprovided with means engaging cach" of 'said vancs.

il. .'\n aerial machine comprising a main trame, side frames mounted onthe sides of: 120

-said main frame on. a tixed -axis and adapted v to he tilted and aflying wing Amounted on each side frame` in combinationv with means onsaid mam frame adapted to cause said wings to vibrate comlv rising asupporti/'lg 125' shaft mounted on eacl VAside frameand separate devicesthereon adapted ttfreaeh/'each wing and actuate the same successively inopposite directions.

1Q. An aerial machine having a main 130 VYedfinl Saidside frames,

mounted on Asaid shaftsand alllmountedframe, side frames adapted .to beturned edgewis'e in said main frame, shafts mount- Wings pivot-ally on`said shafts adapted to surc'essively raise and loWei` said Wings.'

13. An aerial machine having lyin wings with rigid frames at their.baseand slidable plates thereon, a shaft and projections .fixed to rota'teon saidshaft and ladapted to engage s aid plates, and means to presssaid plates backout of engaging relation with said arms at therespective ends of the strokes of said Wings.

14. In aerial machines, flying Wings having rigid base frames, a shaftand separate driven gears rotatable thereon and an arm fixedvto rotatewith each gearand adapted vand means operatively vconnecting said vanesto turn the same collectively to open and closed position comprising arotatable. shaft having a lateral projection at its outer end and fixedmeans adapted to en age 4said projection upon each ilapping stro ce ofthe .\W1ngs. -V In testimony whereof I aX my signature in the presenceof tWo Witnesses.

. ERNEST MOLNAR.

Witnesses: y

HENRY BARNES, E. M. FISHER.

